Fruit, vegetables and pulses

Marzellina wheat

Marzellina wheat: a spring-sown durum from the Sannio and Irpinia uplands

Marzellina, known locally as verminia too, is a heritage durum sown at the end of winter, months after other grain is in the ground. Above 500 metres in Campania's Apennines it was the farmers' fallback; today only a handful still grow it. It is a Slow Food Presidium and on Campania's list of traditional products.

• A compact, long-awned ear on short white straw, with a long, pointed kernel
• Bread with a dark amber crust, a grey crumb and notes of toast, almond and malt
• A dark flour that gives pasta a deep, lingering flavour

How to enjoy it. Look for the dried pasta and bread made from its flour, often blended with others to soften the colour. Simple home cooking, where the grain speaks for itself.

Production areas

Campania

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